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Flags lowered Tuesday for Army Sgt. Joseph M. Lilly

contact: Tonya DurlachJune 25, 2012 | WMU News

Sgt. Joseph M. Lilly

LANSING, Mich.--By order of Gov. Rick Snyder, U.S. flags on all campuses of Western Michigan University and throughout Michigan will be lowered Tuesday, June 26, in honor of U.S. Army Sgt. Joseph M. Lilly, of Flint, Mich., who died June 14 while on active duty in Afghanistan.

Lilly, age 25, died of wounds suffered two days earlier when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device in Panjwa'l, Kandahar province. He was assigned to the 18th Engineer Company, 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.

A 2005 graduate of Flint's Carman-Ainsworth High School, Lilly enlisted in the U.S. Army after graduation and completed basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., where he became a combat engineer. He was deployed to Iraq from July 2009 through August 2010, and was serving his first tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Former Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm issued a proclamation in 2003, requiring U.S. flags to be lowered to half-staff throughout Michigan and on Michigan waters to honor Michigan servicemen and servicewomen killed in the line of duty. Michigan was among the first states to honor its fallen sons and daughters by lowering flags.